I Now Pronounce You Walter and Nancy
by 0h-myglob
Summary: This fic is based on episode 3x07 Tori and Jade's Play Date. Some of the content stays true to the episode while other content is from my brain. Tori finds herself struggling with new feelings while also trying to ensure that she doesn't get an F for the semester. Slow burn but definitely Tori/Jade endgame. I do not own Victorious or any of its characters. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

" _My dear narcoleptic husband, the twins and I have missed you so much." Jade said. She was dressed in a coral dress and cream colored apron. Her eyes shone bright with unshed tears and she quickly ran a hand through her blonde wig. Tori tried not to think about how itchy her moustache felt and stared straight at the floor. Why did Sikowitz make us play a couple and WHY DID HE HAVE TO MAKE ME WEAR A MOUSTACHE? Before Tori/Walter could answer a red light burned where a white bright light had been shining only seconds before. When Tori raised her eyes to look at Jade/Nancy her eyes widened. Jade was no longer wearing her blonde wig or much of anything else. The tight black dress she now donned hugged Jade's every curve, barely sustaining her ample breasts. Tori suddenly felt her mouth go dry and she couldn't remember her lines although this was clearly a very different play. "Come here Ms. Vega," Jade motioned for Tori to lay on the bed that had suddenly materialized in front of her. "Let me show you how much I missed you…"_

Tori jolted awake and felt the beads of sweat that had been accumulating for the last few minutes trickle down her face. "What the what?" Tori said out loud into the darkness of her room. _This play is really messing with my mind_ Tori thought. She plopped her head back onto her pillow and stared at the ceiling while gripping the comforter. _Get it together, Vega. In less than a week we'll perform and then everything can go back to normal._ She blindly grabbed for her phone and groaned at the text from Jade.

Jade 11:00 p.m.: Don't forget to dress nicely for our date tomorrow :)

Tori rolled over and buried her face in her pillow. _At least this way I'll fall asleep quickly or hopefully suffocate so I don't have to go on this "date."_


	2. Chapter 2

Hollywood Arts was definitely not a normal high school. Located in Los Angeles, it proudly held some of the most creative teenage minds on the West Coast. Classes revolved around singing, dancing, and acting ensuring that every graduate was at least a triple threat before being released into the real world of showbiz. Although Tori loved her new school and new friends, she couldn't help but feel that she didn't belong sometimes. She was only accepted into the school because she was forced to fill in for her sister Trina during the big showcase last year. If it hadn't been for that, Tori would never have dared to dream that she would be singing and dancing her heart out in school. Everyone was so talented and creative which constantly reminded Tori not to take anything for granted.

Tori slammed her locker shut after gathering the rubber chicken Sikowitz had requested. She shook her head and shoved the rubbery creature into her bag with a resounding _cluck._ How anyone had hired this man as a teacher was beyond her. His unorthodox teaching methods were constantly stirring up trouble among the student body. The current problem for Tori was that Sikowitz had paired her with the only person in Hollywood Arts that she didn't get along with: Jade West. They were to play husband and wife in one of Sikowitz's original productions and they were to do it well. After weeks of non stop bickering Sikowitz suggested the two girls go out on a date so that they can work through their issues long enough to pull out an amazing performance. "What are you looking at?" Jade's heavily lined eyes met with Tori's chocolate ones and Tori had to look away. "N-nothing, Jade." Tori walked past her, into Sikowitz's class and felt her cheeks burn as Jade chuckled following closely behind.

Sikowitz was standing on the small stage in the classroom and his eyes lit up when he saw Tori. "Ah Tori, I presume you brought me what I asked for?" He boomed while holding his hands out like a child on Christmas morning. "One chicken made of rubber just like you asked." Tori handed it over to him and he promptly placed it in his bag. "Perfect." He grinned. "So what are you gonna be using that for?" Andre asked. Sikowitz turned away from the class and dismissed the question. "I'm the teacher. I ask the questions. Now Tori, Jade, how's married life treating you?" He asked expectantly. Jade made a retching noise will pretending to shove a finger in her mouth. "I'd rather kiss Sinjin than have to pretend to be married to that." She pointed a long black fingernail in Tori's direction. Sikowitz clapped his hands together. "Great progress ladies," Sikowitz spoke to Tori, "At least she's not threatening to kill you anymore."

"Come on Tori, you looove french fries. Just take one of these fried potatoes sticks, dip it in this squished tomato goodness and turn that frown upside down." Beck told Tori as they sat outside eating lunch. And just for good measure, Beck did just that and smiled expectantly at Tori. "I'm not hungry. I'm too anxious about this stupid date Sikowitz set up. How do I know she's not gonna wait until I'm distracted and run a razor through my hair?" Tori threw her hands up exasperated. Beck raised an eyebrow, "Come on Tori, that seems a bit much even for Jade." "And that'll teach you to take the last fruit roll up in the vending machine!" Tori turned towards the shrieking even though she knew exactly who it was. As if on cue, Jade dashed past them holding a pair of scissors in one hand and a ponytail in the other. Tori's insides froze when she caught a glimpse of Jade's bare toothed grin and she let her head fall onto the table in defeat. "Oh," Beck said before popping three fries into his mouth, "I stand corrected."

Tori sat in her last period class barely registering a word the teacher was saying. She hadn't felt this nervous in a really long time and this wasn't even a real date! The more she tapped her pencil, the slower the second hand seemed to move on the clock. She tried to take her mind off her impending demise by going over some lines for the play but the words blurred together and she was back in last night's dream. " _I missed you so much while you were away," Dream Jade purred, "Especially during the long, cold nights with nobody to keep me warm." Jade lay on her side propping herself up on one elbow while stroking the bed._ Tori squirmed in her seat. _Dream Tori was frozen in place unable to think or move or do much of anything. "I had to get a little creative when the cold was just too much to bear." Jade drew lazy circles up her thigh, her eyes never leaving Tori's. "The thought of you coming back was the only thing that kept me from losing my mind." Jade's hand disappeared up her dress and with the dexterity that can only be achieved in dreams, removed her underwear in one fell swoop._

"Ms. Vega! Tori!" Mr. Spitoon's voice cut through Tori's day dream. "Class has been over for at least 10 minutes." Tori looked around the classroom and noticed that everyone else had already left. She collected her things and hastily threw a "Have a good weekend." over her shoulder. "But it's Wednesday…" Mr. Spitoon answered to no one in particular.


	3. Chapter 3

"Okay, well how does this look?" Tori asked for the fifth time. Trina barely looked up from her magazine, "Yeah, looks great." "Trina you're not even looking." Her older sister shrugged and turned to the next page. Tori groaned and plopped onto the couch. "Why do you even care, it's not like it's a real date." Trina scoffed. Unexplained panic rose in Tori's throat as she desperately tried to defend herself. "I know it isn't but I need to _pretend_ that it is." "Very method of you." Trina laughed and then turned her attention back to her magazine. _Trina just doesn't get it. She thinks she's god's gift to the entertainment world so she never takes any assignment seriously._ Tori looked at herself once more in the mirror frowning at her black crop top jacket and light washed jeans. Tori rolled her eyes. _Why do I even care, Jade's probably gonna find something to make fun of anyway._ And with that last comforting thought Tori grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

When Tori arrived at Nozu she had no trouble finding her date. In a sea of bright colors and smiles, Jade's all black outfit and prominent frown stuck out like a sore thumb. Tori took in a deep breath and made her way to Jade. "Hey Jade." Jade grunted in response. Tori tried her best not to roll her eyes and sat across the goth girl. "Are you Tori Vega and Jade West?" A waiter asked holding out a letter. Jade raised a pierced brow and slowly answered, "Yes." "This is for you. I'll be back to take your order in a few minutes." Jade snatched the letter out of his hand and ripped it open. "It's from Sikowitz." Jade said while handing the letter over to Tori.

" _To Ms. Vega and Ms. West,_

 _Since you are reading this letter I can at least be grateful that the two of you can follow instructions. The two of you must stay here, eat, sing, chat, do whatever your heart desires until closing time at 10:00 p.m. I have asked two of my most trusted students to keep an eye on you and make sure you don't make a run for it. If I hear that you ladies hatched an escape plan and ran off to your little homes before 10, you will suffer a fate worse than death. (JK, you'll get an F for the semester). Toodles, Sikowitz"_

The two girls scanned the crowded sushi restaurant and spotted Sikowitz's spies in seconds. Sinjin was sitting alone with his elbows propped on the table peering through a large pair of binoculars. Berf was seated on the other side of the room with a yellow pepper in his hand making direct eye contact with Tori. "There's no way I'm sitting here with you for 3 hours." Jade growled. "Well Jade this was definitely not first on my list of things I wanted to do with my Wednesday night but you read the letter." Jade rolled her eyes, "They're teenage boys, they'll do anything for a pretty girl." Tori opened her mouth to argue but Jade was already halfway to Sinjin. Besides, she had no argument Jade was definitely pretty. Tori picked up her purse and hurried behind Jade.

"No." Sinjin had his arms crossed over his chest and was staring Jade down even though he was visibly nervous. Jade's eyes went wide, "No?!" "Touching your boob isn't going to be good enough. I could fill a sock with mash potatoes and it'd be about the same." Tori tried her best not to laugh. "You told Sinjin you'd let him touch your boob if he'd let us leave?" "Well I couldn't offer up your boob, there's not much there." Jade shrugged. Tori scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest shielding Jade's view. _Why does she always have to be such a bitch?_ Jade turned her attention back to Sinjin. "What's it gonna take mop top? There's about a million things I'd rather be doing with my time." Tori chuckled, "Like what, rearrange your collection of scissors?" "Exactly!" Jade exclaimed. "A kiss." Sinjin answered decidedly. "What?" The two girls asked in unison. "One kiss, on the lips, at least one minute long AND I'm keeping my eyes open to avoid any funny business." Jade grinned, "You heard him Tori." Sinjin shook his head so fast that his curls became a blur. "J-jade." Sinjin's resolve was clearly crumbling. Tori burst out laughing. "You did say you'd rather kiss him than be in this pretend marriage, looks like you got your wish." Jade's eyes went wide again and she held her fists at her side. "Fine." Sinjin shot up with the glee of a three year old surrounded by ice cream. Jade took a deep breath and slowly started to lean into Sinjin. The awkward teen's lips puckered expectantly but his eyes remained open just as he'd promised. Tori felt a weird pull deep in her stomach as she watched Jade lick her lips in an attempt to prepare herself. Jade was close enough to smell his breath and the Fun-Yun/Pepsi combination was enough to make her gag. "Nope, I can't do it." Jade exhaled loudly and motioned for Tori to follow her. Sinjin slumped back into his seat, clearly disappointed. He shrugged his shoulders and picked up his binoculars again.


	4. Chapter 4

They sat back at their table and not long after their waiter took their order. Between bites of her California roll, Tori spoke softly. "I can't believe you hate me so much that you were going to let Sinjin kiss you." Jade shifted uncomfortably in her seat and poked at her spicy tuna roll. "I don't hate you." She said looking away. Tori felt a smile creeping up on her lips. "I just don't like you. Hating someone implies a level of caring that just isn't there." _Ouch._ Through the hurt Tori still tried to get through to Jade. "Come on Jade. There has to be at least one nice thing that you can say about me." Tori didn't know why she cared what Jade thought but she couldn't help herself. Jade didn't like anyone and she pushed away every single person that ever tried to get close to her. The only reason they were anywhere in the same vicinity of each other outside of school was because their grades were on the line. There's no way Jade would've ever willingly spent any amount of time alone with Tori. "Well," Jade started, "Your singing doesn't always make me want to stick scissors in my ears." Hmm, as far as compliments go it wasn't the greatest but coming from Jade it was a pretty big deal. "Well now it's your turn." Jade motioned to Tori. "Say something nice about me." Tori smiled. _Tough Jade wants me to say something nice now, huh? But how nice do I go…?_ "I really admire that you're never afraid to say what's on your mind." Without skipping a beat Jade replied, "That's stupid." "See, no matter what it is or who it insults you say whatever you're thinking. None of the sugar. You go again." Tori popped another piece of sushi in her mouth certain that the goth had nothing nice left to say. Jade swirled her chopsticks around in the soy sauce causing little ripples that just missed the edge of the cup. "Some might say that in a certain light at a certain angle you're...pretty." Jade focused intently on her soy sauce and avoided Tori's shocked gaze. "What?" Jade growled. "Nothing, I just think that-" "Whoa Chad, what have we got here?" Bellowed a medium built spiky haired teenaged boy. "Well I don't know Brad, but it looks like two sexy ladies deficient in Vitamin We. Bozoink." The two obnoxious boys connected fists. "So what do you say we make this sexy twosome into an even sexier foursome?" Chad asked while suggestively wiggling his eyebrows. "How about I let you walk away with all of the extremities you were born with?" Jade sneered as she wrapped her hand around the handle of her knife. Neither of the boys were phased by Jade's obvious hostility. "Come on sweetheart we're just trying to have a little bit of fun. You two go to Hollywood Arts, right? We've seen you here with all your friends before." "Wow, stalkers much?" Tori asked while she crossed her arms across her chest. "We're kind of in the middle of something if you could just…" Tori made a shooing motion with her hand. "We can't leave, we haven't even gotten dessert. Why don't you girls sing a little song for us, show us how they do it over there at your fancy performing arts school?" Brad asked. Tori rolled her eyes and started to say no when Jade cut her off. "You know what, these nice boys want a song, and a song they shall get." Jade told Tori smiling wide. Not a smirk, not a tiny upturning of the lips after making fun of Tori, but an honest to god smile that showed all of her teeth and sent a shiver through Tori. "We'll go after those two." Jade pointed to the two boys currently getting through 'Drop it Like it's Hot." "Um, ok." Tori replied confused. She had learned that sometimes it was just easier to go along with what Jade asked for. It was a lot safer that way. When Tori looked down at the song that Jade was pointing at, she grinned. Jade handed Tori a mike and they got into position while the first few notes of the song blasted through the sound system. The mismatched pair sang their hearts out, their voices complimenting each other harmoniously though they'd never sang together before.

" _Get your hands off my hips, 'fore I punch you in the lips_

 _Stop your staring at my hey!_

 _Take a hint, take a hint_

 _No you can't buy me a drink, let me tell you what I think_

 _I think you could use a mint_

 _Take a hint, take a hint_

 _T-take a hint, take a hint"_

Chad and Brad paled when they realized that the song was about them. As they tried desperately to leave the restaurant Tori and Jade made sure to block the exits and finish the song dedicated to the obnoxious guys who attempted to ruin their "date." As Jade sang her verse Tori couldn't help but steal glances of the goth girl. Although she rarely sang, Tori had to admit that Jade had an amazing voice. A voice, she might add, that sounded great with hers. As they sang the last chorus in unison Tori and Jade joined each other on stage as if they'd been rehearsing all week. While the last notes of the song faded, Jade took Tori's hand and guided her to turn and expertly dipped her. They were frozen for a few seconds while the thunderous applause of the crowd chased out the guys that they succeeded in humiliating. Tori couldn't help but feel the warmth radiating from Jade's arm as it supported her back, their hands still entwined. Green eyes pierced Tori's chocolate browns and Tori stood upright so Jade wouldn't see her blush. "Not bad, Vega." Tori felt the little hairs on the back of her neck stand up where Jade's breath had been. "Not so bad yourself." Tori called over her back while she jogged down the stairs. _What is going on here? Why is any slightly nice thing that Jade says making me blush like an idiot?_ They made their way back to their table and finished the rest of their meal in a comfortable silence.

"What do you mean you've never tried fried ice cream?" Tori asked peeking out from behind the dessert menu. Jade shrugged, "Ice cream's already good. Why mess with an already good thing?" Tori's eyes widened dramatically and she wagged her finger at Jade. "Oh no, we're getting you some fried ice cream." As if on cue their waiter came back to check up on them. "Are you ladies ready to order dessert?" "Yes." Tori answered decidedly. "We're gonna have 2 orders of the strawberry tempura fried ice cream." "Actually," Jade grabbed a hold of the waiter's arm before he could walk away and put in their order. "Make it one order." Jade said slyly. Tori frowned. "But bring two spoons." Tori didn't know what to say which seemed to please Jade. She grinned mischievously and said as innocently as someone like Jade could muster, "What if I don't like it?" Tori shrugged and tried as hard as she could to remain nonchalant, "Sure, makes sense." But on the inside those weird butterflies that she was introduced to when they were first announced as husband and wife for Sikowitz's play started fluttering around.

"Mmm." Jade closed her eyes savoring the last bite. Tori watched as Jade's tongue glided across her bottom lip catching an errant drop of strawberry ice cream. She felt a stirring in her stomach that she couldn't explain and clenched her teeth in an attempt to contain it. "Well?" Tori asked as nonchalantly as possible. "Not bad at all, I'm glad you talked me into sinning a little tonight." Tori chuckled nervously and blurted, "What are you, counting calories or something? You definitely don't need to do that." Jade raised a dark eyebrow in amusement at Tori's sputtering. "Well, what I mean is you have a great body. I mean-you look like you're in great shape, uh do you exercise? I try to exercise sometimes but I just don't have the time and ugh, hmm is it getting hot in here?" Tori grabbed her water and started chugging if only to stop the horrible onslaught of verbal diarrhea. Jade laughed, "I guess this is what happens when you give Miss Sweet Sally Peaches a little too much sugar." _Right, the sugar, Tori thought._ "Yep that darn sugar. Can't have too much of it or I'll be bouncing all over these walls." Tori replied surprising herself with how even her voice sounded. On the inside Tori Vega felt butterflies fluttering to every inch of her body desperate for a way out. Jade smiled and leaned in so close to Tori that she could feel the goth's cold breath on her lips. _Is she about to…? Tori wondered._ She was surprised at how comfortable she felt with Jade being so close to her. What was even more surprising was the fact that she _wanted_ to close the gap between the two of them and feel Jade's lips on hers. "You've got a little..." Jade whispered as she wiped some strawberry ice cream off of Tori's lip. Tori exhaled slowly as Jade sat back in her own seat. "What's the matter Vega, missed your mouth?" Jade cackled in a way more reminiscent of the usual demeanor of the goth girl. The air felt cooler suddenly as Tori mentally kicked herself for thinking that Jade would kiss her. _When have you ever seen her with anyone besides Beck, Tori thought, just because they're broken up doesn't mean she doesn't have feelings for him. And it definitely doesn't mean that she has feelings for me. Get it together Tori._ Whether Tori was losing her mind or not was irrelevant, what really mattered was that she could no longer lie to herself about what she was feeling. This wasn't about the play, Sikowitz's threats, or even about making her acting believable. No, the truth of the matter was that she, Tori Vega, had a crush on Jade West.


	5. Chapter 5

Jade glanced at her phone to check the time. "Well, it's 9:30. I think that's close enough to Sikowitz's specifications." She waved a waiter over and asked for the check. Tori's stomach dropped. She was genuinely having a good time and she would be lying if she said that she didn't enjoy seeing the nicer side of Jade West. The half-latina shoved her disappointment to the back of her head and started gathering her things. "I'm sorry miss but I have very specific instructions not to let you leave until closing time, though your meal has already been paid for." Jade rolled her eyes and dismissed the waiter with a wave of her hand. "Get out of my sight." Tori grit her teeth as she thought: _Great, we're stuck here and Jade can't wait for the second that we can finally leave. I thought she was having a good time, it seemed like she was really opening up to me. Then again, Jade is a great actress._

"You really want to get out of here badly, huh?" Tori asked coldly. Jade seemed taken aback by the question, "Well, don't _you_?" "I don't know, Jade. I didn't up until this very moment. Some of us don't hate every single person we come into contact with. Some of us care about building relationships and friendships even when grades _aren't_ on the line." Tori wanted to pat herself on the back after that one. Her voice was even and devoid of emotion even though inside she was hurting at the goth's attitude. Jade bit her lip and recoiled at Tori's words. "I don't _hate_ everyone. It's just a lot easier to be the one that does the hurting first, that way you're untouchable. If you don't care to begin with, it's a lot easier to move on when they eventually leave you." _Whoa._ Jade turned away and pretended to play with a loose string on her jeans. Tori shifted closer to Jade, her voice now soft and inviting. "Is that what happened to you? Did someone leave you? Was it Beck?" Tori prodded. Jade chuckled dryly, "You sure do ask a lot of questions, Vega."

Tori caught herself and started to move back towards her seat. "No, it wasn't Beck," Jade answered quietly. Tori stopped again and shuffled closer to Jade. "My dad he," Jade took in a deep breath, "My dad was the best dad there ever was, until he wasn't. Every year for my birthday he got me a card and in it he would write poems to me about how much he loved me and how proud he was of me. He made me breakfast in bed and always got me the best gifts. He loved me so much and he was so in love with my mom. Or so I thought. One year, when I was around 10 there was no card and no breakfast, sure as hell wasn't a gift either. Apparently he had fallen in love with someone else. That bitch must've been a succubus because he left us and hasn't been back since. Not so much as a call or even a damn text."

Tori's mouth hung open as she tried to fish for something to say. She knew, of course, that everyone had their problems but she never would've suspected that behind all the goth's anger there was so much sadness and hurt. "I'm really sorry Jade." Tori whispered softly. "And for what it's worth he doesn't deserve to see what an amazing daughter he has and everything you've accomplished without him. You've come out strong on the other side and you keep pushing forward." "I don't have a choice," Jade did everything she could to avoid looking at Tori's eyes that were no doubt full of sympathy and whatever other emotions empaths possessed. "I have to be strong for her and support her since it was too big of a job for that asshole." Tori couldn't see Jade's face but she could see the way her jaw was clenched and how white her knuckles were from clenching her fists. Seeing Jade in such a vulnerable state really threw Tori for a loop. She knew that nothing she said would make her feel any better but she couldn't help but try.

"Hey," Tori said while slowly lowering her hand onto one of Jade's fists. She immediately felt Jade's body go rigid under her gentle touch but stood her ground. "There's no reason for you to hold onto this pain on your own. You can always come talk to me if you need to. Or if you'd rather not talk to me you have Andre or Cat, or any of the others." She added the last part a bit bitterly knowing full well Jade would rather pick off her nails one by one than confide in her any more than she already had. Jade visibly relaxed a little and leaned backwards until her head was nestled underneath Tori's chin. Now it was Tori's turn to freeze underneath the touch of the goth girl. The faint smell of vanilla tickled Tori's nose and she had to fight against every fiber in her being that wanted to nuzzle her face into Jade's neck, planting little kisses anywhere her lips would allow and tell Jade that everything would be okay, that she would be there for her. She wanted desperately to know the source of that sweet smell. Was it a lotion, her shampoo maybe? Whatever it was she wanted to get lost in Jade and have that smell envelope her until no other scent existed.

As if coming out of a spell cast by the wicked witch of emotions, Jade first pulled her hand out from underneath Tori's and then pulled away from her altogether. "Sorry for being such a wimp and unloading all my crap on you tonight." Jade muttered offering a small smile. Tori felt like sitting on her hands as she noticed a strand of hair fall across Jade's face. She wanted nothing more than to reach over, push it out of her face, and pull her in so there was no more distance between their lips. Thankfully Tori didn't get a chance to act on any of those impulses as Jade tucked the loose strand behind her ear. "First of all, you are the last person on earth I'd call a wimp and secondly," Tori swallowed quietly before she finished her sentence, "What are friends for?" Jade nodded slowly and took another glance at her phone, "Well it's time." Tori ran a hand through her hair and asked, "Can I take you somewhere?" _Really Tori? The girl has been dreaming of 10:00 o'clock to come around and you think she'll want to go somewhere? With you of all people?_ Tori shook her head as if to clear the competing voices in her head. "You know what never mind. It's getting late and-" "Yes." Jade answered. Tori's shocked eyes met with Jade's and she got up before the pale girl could have any time to change her mind. "Let's go then." Tori said cheerfully while leading the way out of their booth.

"You brought me to a park." Jade stated flatly. "Well yeah it's a park," Tori answered while sitting on one of the swings, "But it's also where i come when the world gets too loud and I just need to be alone. There's never anyone out here at night and there is a very specific kind of healing that happens when you're on one of these babies." She rattled the chain to the swing for good measure. Jade angled her head away from Tori and stared at the bright moon overhead. "I haven't been to a park since I was 10. My dad would take me almost every weekend and when he left I couldn't find any reason to ever go back to one." "Not even with your friends?" Tori questioned, quickly regretting her decision to bring Jade to her zen place. Jade sighed, "After my dad left, not many relationships seemed worth the effort to me. If my dad who literally gave birth to me could just up and leave out of nowhere so could anyone else."

Tori had always known that there was something else to the hard exterior Jade projected onto the world and now that she knew what made her that way in the first place, she had no idea how to move forward. "Come swing with me." Tori whispered gesturing to the swing directly to her right. Jade smiled, a tiny smile that didn't make it all the way up to her eyes. "I'm not really in the mood Vega, although…" Jade walked away from the swings and stood in front of the slide. Tori laughed incredulously, "You've got to be kidding me." Jade shrugged, "You've got swings, slides used to be my thing." "I've been coming to this park for years and I've never been on it." Tori confessed. "Well, well, well I gotta say I'm honored to be popping your slide cherry." Jade purred while gesturing towards the ladder in front of them. Tori hurriedly climbed up the ladder before Jade could see the blush that was spreading across her face.

Tori sat down at the very top of the slide and looked down at the darkness that waited for her. "Well here goes nothing." Tori threw over her shoulder at Jade who was patiently awaiting her turn. She pushed off with the palms of her hands and laid flat on her back as she began her descent back to the ground. The slide looped around in the middle and seconds later Tori's feet reconnected with the playground sand. A grin spread across Tori's face as she thought about her night out with Jade. Nothing had gone as she expected and now here they were in a playground like a couple of kids. Lost in her thoughts Tori didn't hear the thump of Jade's body making its way down the slide until it was too late. Jade used the momentum she'd picked up while going down the slide to try and stand up as her feet connected to the ground which would've worked out fine if Tori had moved out of the way.

Before she knew it, Tori was flat on her back with the goth girl laying on top of her. Tori looked up at the star studded sky in an attempt to refocus and find the breath that was so abruptly knocked out of her. She heard her thunderous heartbeat in her ears as her body worked feverishly to restore her lost oxygen. "Vega, hey," Jade shouted shaking her shoulder gently, "You okay? You know, most people move out of the way once they get to the bottom." As Tori's lungs and brain returned to reality she gave a small cough and responded, "Well I guess I'm not most people." Their bodies were pressed together in all the right- er _wrong_ places and Tori noticed that while she'd fallen she'd tried to grab at something, anything with her hands to try to stop her fall. Well that explained why her hands were wrapped around the pale girl's waist. What it didn't explain was why they were _still_ there or why neither girl had made a move to get up. _Now would be the time Tori. If you're gonna make a move, there she is._ "Well, it's getting late," Jade said quietly while sneaking a glance at Tori's lips, "We should probably get going." Unfortunately for Tori, sensing sexual tension, especially when regarding her was not her strong suit.

She tried her best to take a mental snapshot of the moment to preserve it in her memory. The way Jade's hair fell forward and tickled her chin, the subtle rise and fall of Jade's body mimicking Tori's breaths, how perfect it felt to have her arms enveloping Jade. "Yeah you're right," Tori replied, " Plus we have rehearsal tomorrow." And with that Jade stood up and to Tori's surprise extended a hand to her. Jade grabbed her bag and paused before walking away. She turned around to face Tori and said, "Tonight wasn't horrible." But the smile that was paired with those words betrayed the pale goth girl. She'd had a good time and in that moment Tori wished she'd tried to kiss the girl because something told her that she would've kissed her back.

As Tori lay in bed after her date she started to think about the possibility that maybe, just maybe Jade had a crush on her too. If she was going to make any progress in this dilemma she now found herself in she would have to consult with the one person at school who knew Jade better than anyone else. Beck Oliver.


	6. Chapter 6

**Jade's POV**

Jade took a sip of her coffee and kept her eyes fixed on the door as she waited for Tori to arrive. After her surprisingly not terrible evening with Tori she'd decided that'd she'd had enough of the life she'd been living. She was tired of being mad at the world when it was her father that had wounded her so deeply. Jade's change in attitude didn't mean that she would suddenly be little miss sunshine and become everyone's best friend but she thought that she could at least start by exploring this new side of her relationship with Tori.

Ever since the half-latina was accepted into Hollywood Arts, Jade's life was thrown completely out of focus. She lost interest in her longtime boyfriend Beck and discovered feelings that took her entirely too long to decrypt. During the early stages of their relationship Jade said and did anything possible to make Tori's life a living hell. There was something not quite right about the too-sweet newcomer who charmed everyone with her radiant smile and cheerful demeanor. It was only natural that someone so different from Jade would cause chaos in the heart of the goth girl.

Soon after she broke up with Beck she discovered a new layer to her previous decoding of her feelings for Tori. Jade respected the way that Tori seemed to be the only person in Hollywood Arts besides Beck to see straight through her nonsense and be able to hold her own against her sharp tongue. She found that making fun of this mysterious new girl came with a different goal. Instead of trying to incite fear and tears she tried to bring out Tori's feisty side just so the half-latina would have to put her in her place. It was always an exciting game of words and wits and Jade found herself craving it on the daily. She loved the fierce look in Tori's eyes whenever she made a particularly piercing comment. It's almost like she could see the tiny gears in her head mobilizing to create a response that would make the goth girl eat her words.

It was hard to say when Jade made the realization that her feelings had a romantic undertone. If she had to pinpoint a specific day, it had to be the day that Tori found out that the black eye she received while they performed their stage fighting scene was nothing more than a clever blend of purple makeup. She'd wanted so badly to pick at the newcomer's cheerful disposition and send her into complete social annihilation but her plan completely backfired. Not only was she found out by Andre, but when Tori found out she did nothing to retaliate. Instead, she took her punishment quietly, not wanting to add any more fuel to the fire that Jade had started. Jade smiled as she recalled walking into the auditorium and seeing Tori scraping at what looked to be mac and cheese. (Part of her punishment had been to clean up after a food fight scene in a school production). Her sleeves were bunched up at her elbows and her long brown hair was pulled back out of her eyes. " _Maybe you could try being nice to me for once_." Tori had said. Maybe it was the noxious fumes of the discarded food or maybe the vulnerability in Tori's voice but something in that room made Jade at least want to try. She stayed behind and helped Tori clean up the rest of the auditorium all the while searching for a reason in her mind that would justify what she'd done. She couldn't even remember what exactly her twisted mind was trying to accomplish in making Tori look like the bad guy.

Jade looked back up at the clock and took another sip of the warm, black liquid that gave her life every morning. _This is probably stupid,_ Jade thought, _there were plenty of times that she could've made a move last night and she didn't. But I did catch her sneaking peeks at me all night AND she was holding me pretty close when I fell on top of her._ Jade blushed as she thought back on the slide incident of the previous night. Tori's hands had comfortably settled at her waist once she'd regained her breath and she'd made no move to get up. Their bodies were pressed closely together and it would've been so easy to lean in for a kiss… She blushed madly and mentally kicked herself for missing out on Tori's lips that were basically handed to her on a silver platter.

Jade glanced at the clock again and realized the bell would ring in five minutes. _Where the hell is she?_ Just then, as if her thoughts had summoned her, there she was. She had a huge smile that showed off her prominent cheekbones and her perfectly straight white teeth. Jade was frozen in place as she watched Tori drag a very confused but compliant Beck towards the janitor's closet. _Are you fucking kidding me?_ Jade's thoughts turned instantly dark and she felt the crumpling of styrofoam followed by a brief burning sensation down her arm. The hot liquid pooled in her hand and spilled onto the floor. Jade had already thought up at least 10 different scenarios to humiliate/maim the pair by the time Sinjin walked by her. "Hey Jade." Sinjin greeted her cheerfully. Without a word she grabbed him by the collar and wiped the coffee off her hand and arm with his shirt. She pushed him back into a locker before she stormed off to her first class. "Hey, my mom just washed that shirt." Jade heard him mumble behind her. Jade didn't care. She couldn't believe how stupid she'd been to think that Tori actually liked her. She'd wanted to talk to Tori and thank her for listening to her ramblings last night and ask her if they could try going out on a real date next time but it seemed that Vega had something completely different in mind. Particularly making out with her ex-boyfriend in the confines of the janitor's closet.


	7. Chapter 7

**_**Author's note:**_** ** _I'm so sorry that it has taken me so long to update but life has been crazy lately and updating once a week has proved impossible. I'm hoping in the next few weeks I'll have a bit more time to update more frequently but for now here's the next chapter. Enjoy and please review!_**

 **Tori's POV**

"Whoa, what's going on?" Beck asked while adjusting his strap that had fallen off his shoulder. Tori nervously ran her fingers through her soft brown hair and took a shaky breath. "I need to talk to you about something." Tori started. Beck gestured for her to go on. "This is going to sound really weird but I need some advice on how to talk to Jade." Beck laughed, "Come on Tori, that's not weird at all. No one on this planet knows exactly how her brain works and you're being forced to spend all this time with her. I'm sure you could use some survival tips." Tori didn't laugh. "No Beck, that's not what I mean. I guess I probably should've started this conversation off differently. I think I might have a crush on Jade." Beck exhaled forcefully and tilted his head to the side but said nothing. Having Beck be the only person Tori could talk to about Jade was not exactly ideal, especially since no one really knew why the couple broke up in the first place, but she knew that regardless of how he felt he would help her however he could.

"Beck don't just stand there, say something!" Tori blurted. "Loving Jade is not something I'd particularly recommend," Beck said grimly. Tori's face fell. "Yeah no, I obviously wasn't thinking and-" Beck cut her off with a wave of his hand, "But I'll tell you everything I know. Come on, let's blow off first period and go for a ride." Tori let out a huge sigh of relief and followed Beck out the door. _He said loving Jade and I didn't even correct him. Do I love Jade?_ Tori asked herself. This new possibility made Tori feel like the walls of Beck's car were closing in on her. Rejection would've been a lot easier to handle if this were just a mere crush but now that the word love had peeked it's head into the mixture unexpectedly, the stakes were a lot higher.

"So yeah, the whole situation with her dad turned her from this sweet little girl who saw nothing but the best in everyone to the Jade we know and fear today." Beck gripped the steering wheel lightly while staring off into the distance as if he were reminiscing on his time spent with the troubled girl. Tori sat with her hands in her lap looking out the passenger side window doing some reminiscing of her own. She recalled the entirely carefree side of Jade she had seen last night and wondered what other surprises were hidden deep within the girl she was falling for. "I had no idea how fragile Jade was until she told me about her father last night. But it makes all the sense in the world now." Tori muttered. Beck's face contorted into an expression of surprise, "She talked to you about Hank? Wow, I didn't unlock the tragic backstory until we were dating at least a year. But make no mistake, Jade isn't fragile. She may be armed with defense mechanisms that would make Freud have a field day but there's a lot more to it than that."

Tori nodded her head slowly. "This is totally weird isn't it?" Tori asked burying her face in her hands. Beck leaned forward and put his arms around Tori who was clearly distraught. "If it's me you're worried about, I'm fine. I still love Jade and maybe a part of me always will but we just don't work out. We tried it out for a while but ultimately it had to come to an end." Tori returned Beck's embrace, thankful that he was there to talk to and didn't totally hate her for having feelings for his ex girlfriend. "But what if Jade and I don't work out either. All she ever does is make fun of me and treat me like shit." "Come on Tori," Beck raised a brow, "You know that's not entirely true. Jade secretly loves having someone to verbally spar with and that tough exterior of hers can only hold up for so long. Besides, you'll never know if you don't try." "I guess you're right. But how do I even go about this? Does she even like girls?" "Well as far as I know, she's never dated one but she's had a few crushes." "Ugh, this is so embarrassing." Tori turned around so Beck wouldn't see her blush. Beck laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. Besides, if there's anyone that can go head to head with Jade and survive, it would be you."

Tori chuckled knowing deep down that Beck was probably right. "So how do I go about this? Do I ask her out? Do I write her a song?" Tori asked, her eyes going wide at the prospect of asking the goth girl out on a date. "Oh no, no," Beck quickly cut her off, "She is not a fan of any kind of grand gesture, whether public or private. No songs, no love letters, no surprise decorating her locker. You just need to be as direct and nonchalant as possible." "No grand gestures, got it." Tori made a mental note. "So I guess getting a petting zoo and tying a banner on all the ponies would be out of the question?" "Tori!" Beck exclaimed and shook his head while laughing. "Just kidding. I got this." Tori formed guns with the pointer finger and thumbs of both her hands and shot them towards Beck while attempting to wink. Beck just shook his head and continued to laugh with the half-latina girl.

When Tori and Beck returned to Hollywood Arts it was almost lunch time much to Tori's surprise. The pair had completely lost track of time as they exchanged stories about Jade and carefully calculated what Tori's next move would be. As Tori stepped out of Beck's car and quickly waved goodbye at her biggest ally her legs had already planned a trajectory to Jade's class as if they had a mind of their own. Tori swallowed hard as she felt her heart beating in her throat. Although she was more nervous than she'd ever been in her life she was determined to tell Jade how she felt. The nervous girl tried her best to form a monologue in her head that would result in the least amount of grunts from the goth girl. _I just have to tell her that I like her and I want to take her out on a real date. None of this love business,_ Tori scoffed at herself for ever having let her brain take her in that direction. _And if she doesn't feel the same,_ Tori bit her lip nervously at the prospect of this whole thing blowing up in her face somehow, _then at least I tried._ Tori stood outside of Jade's theater class anxiously awaiting for class to let out. She was so distracted by what she would say to Jade and exactly how she would say it that she didn't notice that the small amount of students roaming in the hallway were whispering rapidly to each other while staring at her.


	8. Chapter 8

Tori tapped her foot on the floor in an erratic rhythm as she impatiently waited for the goth girl to come out of her class. "Hey." Tori looked up at the owner of the hand that gently touched her arm. Ryan Garcia. Senior, soon to be Prom King and the hottest boy in school and he wanted Tori's attention. "Hey Tori." Ryan repeated himself when Tori offered no response, flashing her a smile that revealed his perfectly even teeth that could've only been the result of years of orthodontia. Tori squinted her eyes in confusion. Why was Ryan suddenly coming up to her when they had never spoken to each other a day in her life? Ryan's blue eyes crinkled in the corners as his unwavering smile seemed to be fishing for a response from the girl in front of him who couldn't be less interested. "Um, hi Ryan?" Tori couldn't help having it come out as a question. Here she was about to take one of the biggest risks she'd ever faced and all Ryan was doing was wasting her time and taking her focus off of her target.

He ran a hand through his hair slowly making sure that his bicep was in full display for Tori to see. Tori stole another glance inside the classroom so that Ryan wouldn't see how far back into her head her eyes rolled. "So listen," Tori turned her attention back to Ryan while still keeping an ear in the direction of the classroom, "If you ever want to meet up in the janitor's closet, just know I'd be down." He punctuated his sentence with a wink and a pointed glance down at his zipper. The color drained from Tori's face and her hand involuntarily clenched into a fist. "What?" She managed to choke out. "Well you know, like you did with Beck? A little…" he leaned over and whispered in Tori's ear, "Hand action." Tori could hear her heart beating in her ears. _What is he talking about?_

"Well Jade was telling everyone how you met up with Beck in the janitor's closet and gave him a handy. Everyone knows you're not dating so I figured you were fair game." He leaned in close enough for Tori to smell the Winterfresh still on his breath, "I figured we could both have a little fun." Tori bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out and turned away from Ryan once she felt the bitter sting of tears that had begun to collect in her eyes. _I can't believe Jade would do this to me. This is so humiliating._ "Get out of my face, Ryan." She pushed past him and made her way outside for some fresh air. "If you weren't interested you could've just said so, you didn't have to be a bitch about it." Ryan called after her. By then Jade's class had let out and the goth had heard everything she needed to hear. She smirked and made her way outside to grab a quick bite in celebration of letting everyone see what good ole Miss Sweet Sally Peaches was really like.

When Tori made it outside her legs kept moving as if they had their own idea of where they were going. _I already missed half my day,_ Tori thought, _I might as well just go home._ The further away she got from the school, the more compelled her tears were to fall down her face. _I can't believe how stupid I was thinking that I could ever get through to Jade. This was probably her plan all along. Getting me to think that we were getting close and then pulling the rug out from under me when I least expected it._ When Tori got home she dropped her bag by the front door and kicked off her shoes. She plopped down onto her bed and opened The Slap on her phone. Just as she'd expected her inbox was overflowing with messages from guys she'd never met asking for the same thing Ryan had. 'I'm amazed at how cruel people can be :'(' Tori posted and signed off for the night. As hurt as she felt, Tori had to admit to herself that in the back of her mind this had always been a possibility. She couldn't deny the sparks she'd felt the night before but the events of today convinced her she was reading too much into things and her brain had simply made her see what it wanted to see. There wasn't a single compassionate or loving bone inside of Jade West and Tori couldn't wait for the play to be over so that she would never have to speak to her again.


	9. Chapter 9

Jade stood by her locker between classes scrolling through The Slap, unable to contain the smirk at her handiwork. _That'll show Vega for toying around with me and then screwing around with Beck_ , she thought. She was so engrossed in the hundreds of comments authored by the student body that she didn't notice Beck when he walked up to her. "What the hell did you do Jade?" The anger was evident in his voice as he stared Jade down. Barely looking up from her phone Jade sneered, "Lookie here, Mr. Beck Oliver still hot and bothered from his little tussle with Tori Vega. The janitor's closet Beck, really? I remembered you having a bit more class than that." "What the hell are you talking about?" He answered not allowing his confusion to override his anger. Jade put her phone in her bag and rolled her eyes while directing her attention to her ex. "We dated too long for you to play stupid with me. I know exactly what was going on in that closet and I was simply alerting our friends here at school what Tori is really like. I knew from the second she came to this school that she couldn't wait to get her hands on you and now that you're single, she finally can."

Beck pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes quietly counting to five. "You know what Jade, I had to put up with a lot of crap while we were dating but this is low, even for you." "You're really gonna stand there and act all innocent? I didn't say anything that everyone else wasn't already thinking. I thought you'd be man enough to own up to your actions but I guess I was wrong." Jade started to turn around not wanting to entertain any more of Beck's nonsense when Beck took her arm and turned her back to face him. "What I do now is none of your business, Jade. Do I need to remind you that you broke up with me?" Jade rolled her eyes once more and looked down at her nails. _Hmm, should probably file that one._ She made a mental note to inspect her nails a bit more closely once she got home from rehearsal. "Not that you would care but Tori and I weren't fooling around in there. She took me into the janitor's closet because she wanted to talk about you." Jade remained stoic on the outside but on the inside her resolve had begun to crumble slightly. Beck continued, "She wanted to know how she could work better with you because you've been giving her such a hard time with Sikowitz's play." Jade crossed her arms and kept Beck's unwavering gaze, "And I'm just supposed to believe that?" Beck's lips were a thin line showing no hint of the smile that usually adorned his face. "This isn't my place to say but she came to me for help on how to tell you that she likes you. I'm only telling you this because I'm sure Tori would much rather let this all blow over than tell you how she feels after what you've done and she sure as hell is not the type to get even. She wanted to ask you out Jade." With a disapproving frown on his face he turned around and made his way to class just as the bell was ringing. Jade's blood ran cold as she processed what Beck had told her. _Fuck._ Jade made a fist and drove it into the closest locker which sprung open from the force of the blow. "Aw man." Sinjin moaned as he rounded the corner and saw that Hollywood Arts' Queen of Darkness had broken his locker. Elbowing past Sinjin and clutching her fist, Jade made her way to the auditorium to try and make sense of everything that was going on.

Jade threw down her bag and lay on the floor in the middle of the stage. She stared up at the lights overhead while she caught her breath and focused on the rhythm of her pulsating hand. _Tori was going to ask me out…_ The goth shut her eyes flooding herself in as much darkness as she could muster without shutting the lights. _She was going to ask me out and I pushed her away before she even had the chance._ She picked up her phone to take another look at the damage she'd done on The Slap and her heart sank when she saw just how many messages were posted. _It's gonna take a lot more than just an apology to make this right,_ Jade thought to herself, _and that's if there's even a chance that Tori will hear me out._ As badly as she wanted to text Tori and beg for her forgiveness, she needed to set the record straight with everyone at Hollywood Arts first and she knew exactly where to start. In order for her plan to work she would have to take action while everyone was still in their classes. She went over exactly what she would say and how she would say it and mentally moved on to what her next couple of steps would be. Once she felt confident in her ability to move forward she grabbed her bag and ran down the stairs towards the main office. Jade barely felt the pain in her hand anymore, she was too focused on doing the impossible: getting forgiveness from Tori.

"Attention everyone," Jade began over the loudspeaker, "This morning I started a rumor that Tori Vega was," Jade paused trying to find the right wording, "having fun with Beck Oliver in a secluded area. That's not true. I was jealous and jumped to conclusions when I saw them together. For all of you boys who are leaving messages on Tori's Slap account and harassing her, just know that I've taken screenshots of all of the comments and know what each of you look like. It won't be too difficult to figure out where you live so go ahead and delete those comments and apologize while you still can." Her menacing tone filled in the gaps of what she couldn't say unless she wanted to be in more trouble than she already was. "Ms. West!" Principal Eikner bellowed just as she was finishing up her announcement. "I know the way." Jade muttered as she made her way into his office.

"What you've done here is very serious. You know that we don't tolerate any kind of bullying here at Hollywood Arts and that includes cyberbullying." "This wasn't cyberbullying per se. I simply had the wrong information that I chose to spread that then led to cyberbullying of sorts. I already posted a long message on The Slap letting everyone know that what I did was wrong. If you want to punish someone maybe you should go after the boys sending her all these disgusting messages." Jade crossed her arms over her chest and held his Eikner's frown deepened, "I will not have you sitting across from me in that chair telling me how to do my job. I'm glad that you've apologized but that doesn't absolve you of what you've done and the pain that you've already cause that poor girl. Now, I know how hard you kids have been working on Sikowitz's play and I'm not about to let the others suffer by punishing you the day before it's set to premiere. Monday will be the first day of two weeks of after school detention." Jade grunted in response. She'd expected a lot worse but she still wasn't happy about getting home two hours later than she should for two whole weeks. "And if I find you in my office again you will be barred from participating in any extracurricular school productions." "Understood." Jade muttered. "Now go back to class." Principal Eikner said as he gestured towards the door. Jade walked out and did exactly as she was told for once.

Jade scanned the crowd for Beck after the last bell rang. "Come on, Beck." Jade muttered while pushing people out of her way. Her hand involuntarily shot up when her eyes briefly met Beck's in the sea of teenagers desperate to get home. Beck cocked his head to the side and gave Jade a look that was a mix of confusion and partially diluted anger. "Come here." Jade mouthed as she motioned with her hand for Beck to walk towards her. "What do you want Jade?" Beck asked wearily. Jade took a deep breath, "I want to talk to you about Tori." "No way." Beck said turning around to walk away. Jade was afraid Beck would react this way but she couldn't think of anyone better to help her on her quest to fix things with Tori. "If you would just hear me out…" Jade began reaching out to stop him. Beck forcefully turned back around to face her, "Whatever it is you're brewing I don't want any part of it. It's great that you did your little announcements and you apologized but that doesn't take away the damage that was already done." Jade clasped her hands together and pleaded with Beck, "I don't know who else to ask for help. I really fucked up and maybe she'll never forgive me after everything else I've done but I at least need to try."

"You have feelings for her, don't you? You saw us going into the janitor's closet, freaked out and immediately thought the worst. And of course you didn't deal with it the way any sane person would, you had to use the patented Twisted Jade method. If you would've just come to me I would've told you exactly what happened and all of this could've been avoided." Although his words were stern his face had softened visibly and he made no other movement that implied he would be walking away from her anytime soon. Beck had had his suspicions for the last couple of months that there was some unspoken emotion being shared by Tori and Jade and here it was coming into fruition and proving him right. He had no ill thoughts towards Jade though, it wasn't a secret that their relationship had been hanging on by a thread for a very long time. Beck wished Jade all the happiness in the world and who knew, maybe Tori would keep her in check and give her the happiness that he couldn't. "That's me," Jade smiled sheepishly, "Always assuming the worst." Beck chuckled dryly, "So what's the game plan from here?" "I'm glad you asked, I actually wanted to run some stuff by you." "Alright Dark One, let's take a walk." Beck motioned for Jade to follow him.


	10. Chapter 10

"Where's Tori?" Andre asked no one in particular in the auditorium. "She's probably getting ready to join a convent after the day she's had." Robbie's puppet Rex snickered. "Shut your mouth before I castrate you!" Jade shouted while producing a long pair of scissors seemingly out of nowhere. Rex gasped and crossed his hands over his front. Robbie's hand immediately shot up and covered one of Rex's ears. "Could you not threaten him like that, you know he's sensitive about his size!" Rex was quick to defend himself, "I've got a lot more going on down there than you do, Shapiro." Everyone within earshot snickered causing Robbie to retreat backstage with Rex, presumably to continue arguing. "Tori hasn't answered any of my texts," Andre said, "I'm gonna call her."

Tori lifted her head after what seemed like hours. After crying for what felt like an eternity, she pulled herself together into a state of quasi-numbness. She didn't feel sad or angry anymore as far as she could tell. She was fed up. After the play she would do everything in her power to avoid Jade like the plague she was. Clearing her now tainted reputation would take a little more work but she was confident that soon enough the next big scandal would take her off the radar. Her thoughts were interrupted by the shrill ringing of her cell phone. "Hello?" "Tori?! Where are you?" Andre shouted, "Dress rehearsal was supposed to start five minutes ago." Tori shot up from her bed so quickly that she almost lost her balance, "Shit, I'll be over in five minutes. With everything going on today I completely forgot." She ran down the stairs and collected her shoes and bag where she'd dropped them. "Listen Tori I'm really sorry about what Jade did, that was really messed up." Tori stopped just short of opening her front door, "It's fine Andre, it'll all blow over." "Yeah you're probably right but if you need anything you let me know. Anyway, you're in luck, Sikowitz locked himself up in the men's room again." Tori couldn't help but laugh at loud. "Of course he did, see you later Andre." Tori terminated the phone call can immediately ordered herself an Uber.

"Hey calm down," Beck whispered to Jade, "She'll be here soon." "That's why I'm freaking out, my idea seemed good at the moment of conception but now it just seems so stupid. How am I ever gonna get her to forgive me?" Before Beck could answer, Sikowitz burst into the auditorium and bellowed, "Hello young people, I'm sorry for the delay but I found myself in a bit of a pickle in the men's room. No matter, let's get this show on the road. Now where is my Walter?" Sikowitz quickly scanned the teens in front of him but was disappointed when he didn't see a mustachioed Tori. "I'm right here!" Tori shouted and walked out onto the stage fully dressed in Walter's uniform. Her long brown locks were strategically tucked under Walter's short black hair and a black mustache was glued on perfectly to her upper lip. Sikowitz loudly clapped his hands together sending a booming echo throughout the auditorium. "Excellent! Looking great by the way, Walter. Now places everyone, let's take it from the top." Everyone rushed to their places and as they did Jade desperately made her way to Tori. "Can I talk to for a second, backstage?" Jade whispered so no one else could hear. "Jade, I've put up with your shit for over a year now because I really thought that there was a good person in there but you've shown me time and time again that there isn't. Well, I'm finally getting your message loud and clear, I'm done." Tori answered curtly. "You're done." Jade repeated blankly as her heart dropped. Tori gave a small nod in response and turned away from her. _Shit._ As much as she deserved it, that was not the reaction she was hoping for but it was too late to stop the plan that was already in motion.

Tori bit her lip wondering if maybe she'd been to harsh on Jade. _No_ , Tori thought, _I need to stand my ground. There's no reason for me to feel bad for her. I just need to focus on being Walter for the next ninety minutes. There's no more Tori and Jade, only Walter and Nancy. Two more days and I won't have to deal with her anymore._ Jade shot a glance at Tori when she wasn't looking and gulped. _Why did I have to be such a bitch to her? Everything was going so well last night and if I hadn't jumped to conclusions maybe things would be going the way I wanted them to for once._ Jade discreetly shook her head and thought to herself, _I need to focus on being Nancy, everything else will have to wait._ "And action!" Sikowitz shouted.

The play was going just as Sikowitz had imagined and in some parts even better he had to admit. He was glad to see that by forcing Jade and Tori to spend some quality time together, he had pulled from them a wonderfully believable performance. They were now making their way through the final act in a scene that featured Tori and Jade as well as Beck and Andre as their identical twin sons. Tori and Jade just needed to get through a few more lines of dialogue, embrace, and the play would be over. Outwardly "Walter" was completely unphased by the impending physical contact. Tori on the other hand was apprehensive to say the least. Tori wrapped her arms around Jade's waist just as Jade's hands came up around her neck. Jade's body immediately felt as if electricity coursed through her veins instead of blood. She couldn't help being deliciously aware of where her body and Tori's touched. At the last second Jade tilted her face up slightly and pressed her lips against Tori's. Even with the scratchy mustache tickling their lips Jade felt a warmth that spread throughout her entire body almost instantly. She wasn't sure where the kiss had come from exactly. Was she so wrapped up in Nancy's emotions that kissing Walter was the only logical step or was this actually Jade kissing Tori trying to put her apologies and all of her unspoken feelings into one simple gesture? Tori's lips felt soft and unwavering against Jade's making her head spin. But just as quickly as it began, it was over. Sikowitz began clapping slowly, "Well done, well done ladies. I asked you to make me believe it and here we are. Give me all of the raw emotion I saw in tonight's show and your A's are guaranteed."

Jade hurried off to change out of her Nancy clothes while Tori was unable to move from her spot on stage. Although Tori knew Jade had kissed her in order to help their performance, she couldn't help but feel all those emotions she'd shoved to the back of her head. Tori took a deep breath and shoved her hands deep inside of Walter's jacket. As she made her way backstage her hand brushed against a piece of paper. She pulled it out and was filled with confusion at the words that haphazardly covered half of the sheet. ' _Meet me by The Grub Truck after rehearsal.'_ Not only did the author of the note not include a name but Tori didn't have the slightest clue who it could be from. She knew that it had to be someone in the play because no one else would've had access to Walter's jacket. Although she was curious to find out who'd sent the note she had to admit that she was scared to follow through with the note's instructions. After the events of today it was very likely that it would be another skeezy guy trying to get some action and Tori didn't want to add any fuel to the damaging rumors. Tori crumpled up the note and went backstage to change and retrieve her bag.


	11. Chapter 11

Jade stood in a bathroom stall with her head down and eyes closed, trying to muster up the courage to make her way towards The Grub Truck. _Maybe she's there and maybe she isn't_ Jade thought to herself, _but whatever happens, you can't freak out._ Jade smiled to herself; asking Jade to control her emotions was like asking a fish to get up and walk. It just didn't happen naturally. Jade shook her hands anxiously as if the simple motion would cause the nerves to fall out of her body. _You are Jade West,_ she told herself, _you aren't afraid of anything. So go and see if Tori is out there waiting for you._

Once she finally made her way outside she had to close her eyes and count to ten before the sight before her caused her to spontaneously combust. The Grub Truck and the surrounding area had been decorated with beautiful twinkling lights just as she requested of the freshmen she'd paid to handle the job. One of the tables had been covered with a white tablecloth and two unlit candlesticks in the middle. On either side of the candlesticks there was a bowl of fried strawberry ice cream sitting on an ice pack. Fred Burman, one of the best guitarists in school was playing a beautiful melody that carried perfectly to the table. However, instead of Tori waiting for her as she'd wanted, there was Sinjin already halfway through the contents of one of the bowls. "Hi Jade." Sinjin waved cheerfully and then quickly went back to the task at hand. Jade grit her teeth and turned to Fred who was trying really hard not to laugh. Fred put down his guitar and whispered to Jade, "Don't worry, I won't let anyone know that you're trying to seduce Sinjin." Jade let out a primal shriek and lunged at Fred picking up his guitar, and bashing it into the table Sinjin now occupied.

Strawberry ice cream dripped down Sinjin's face as he sat there too afraid to move. Jade pushed Fred into the seat across from Sinjin and bent down so close to him that her nose almost touched his. She spoke in her most menacing tone, "Sinjin wasn't the one who was supposed to be here. Breathe a word of any of this to anyone and I will make sure that you end up just like your guitar." She straightened and motioned to Sinjin, "That goes for you too." Jade grit her teeth, clutched her bag close to her side and stormed off towards her car. She threw her bag onto the passenger side seat and banged her head on the steering wheel. _She didn't show..._ Jade thought to herself sadly. She knew that if she'd outright told Tori to meet her, she never would've come so hiding her identity was her only option. If she could just get Tori alone so she could talk to her she could explain exactly what was going on in her twisted mind. She could tell her she was sorry, that she was ashamed about what she did and if Tori could only forgive her she would never hurt her that way again. Jade could let her know just how afraid her feelings for Tori made her but she was done running away from them. She was ready to dive in head first, no matter the cost.

"Are you sure you didn't see any weirdos snooping around the set today?" Tori asked Andre as they lay on her couch with a bowl of untouched chips in front of them. "Nope, just the usual. Can I see the note again?" Andre took the crumpled piece of paper and inspected it closely, "This isn't any handwriting I've ever seen." Andre frowned and put it back down. Tori shrugged, "Whatever. I'm sure it was just somebody that heard how much of a slut I am now." Tori rolled her eyes in frustration. "Speaking of which, I forgot to tell you what happened this afternoon. Jade hijacked the intercom and publicly apologized for what she did to you. She also posted a long apology on The Slap, see?" Andre took out his phone and showed Tori. Sure enough Jade had posted a paragraph berating herself for not only embarrassing Tori but also for causing her to receive the unwanted attention of half the male student body.

"Something weird's going on with that girl. In all the time I've known her I have never seen her willingly apologize to anyone, especially not so publicly." Tori wasn't paying much attention to what Andre was saying. She was too busy reading Jade's post that was surprisingly heartfelt for someone like her. Not as surprising was the string of profanities and threats aimed at the boys that had in any way contacted Tori with any sexual offers. _What if Jade wrote the note?_ Tori thought to herself. _She could've disguised her handwriting because she figured if I knew it was her I wouldn't go._ Would she have gone if she knew it was Jade? Tori shook her head as if trying to align the rambling thoughts in her head. _It doesn't matter if Jade wrote the letter or if I would've gone or not. There's nothing left to be said. She's apologized and although the damage is already done, I need to move on from this. From Jade. It's not like she has feelings for me_ … Without another word to Andre she reached for some chips and let the multilayered flavors take her away.

"I swear to god that little turd is gonna get it!" Jade paced around her kitchen while Beck sat calmly by the island. "It feels like everywhere I turn there he is ruining everything." Jade didn't know whether she was more embarrassed, enraged, or disappointed. "It's not Sinjin's fault. He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time." Beck spoke evenly and calmly trying to ride out the storm of Jade's rage as he so often had when they were dating. Jade violently turned around to face Beck, "His parents were at the wrong place at the wrong time when they decided to procreate!" "Now Jade, what did we say about being overly mean?" Jade frowned and crossed her arms over her chest like a reprimanded child, "I shouldn't be so mean if I'm trying to get Tori to forgive me." "Atta girl. Now just because this plan didn't work doesn't mean it's all gone to shit, you just have to try something else."

Jade made her way to the island and placed her hand on Beck's, "Oh Beck," Beck turned his head to face her and smiled, "Sweet, sweet, overly optimistic Beck. Shut up." Jade walked out of the kitchen and plopped down on her couch in her living room. She knew Beck was right for the most part. She needed to look past this failure and figure out what her next step would be. "You know I'm right, Jade." Beck took a seat next to her and clasped his hands behind his head making himself comfortable. Jade was going to need to reach really deep inside herself if she was ever going to make any progress with Tori. "Ugh!" Jade groaned into one of the many throw pillows her mom insisted on decorating the couch with. "You'll figure it out, Jade. I know you will." Beck said quietly. Jade wasn't so sure. Had her actions of the day already ruined a good thing before it had a chance to start? Even if she somehow managed to get Tori's attention would her explanation and declaration be enough to overlook all the pain she caused? More importantly, had she extinguished any feelings that Tori had for her? Jade didn't know the answer to any of these questions and that terrified her more than anything else. The one thing she did know was that she wasn't going down without a fight.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Author's note: I'm sorry this update has taken so long but this summer has been way busier than I expected. We're nearing the end of Tori and Jade's journey in this story and I wanted to take the time out now to thank those of you who have been reading and patiently waiting for updates. I hope you'll enjoy the remainder of this fic and feel free to leave comments with things you'd like to see in possible sequels. Thank you all and I hope you enjoy!**_

"Whoa. Tori and Jade, really?" Andre let out a long breath, "I never saw that one coming." "I can't say it's a complete shock. We were already having problems but the second Tori came to Hollywood Arts it was clear that Jade and I were never going to get any better." Beck shrugged. "At first I thought she was threatened by her, you know how jealous she gets. But the past couple of weeks really put things into perspective." Andre looked thoughtful, "How do you feel about all this?" "Honestly I just want Jade to be happy. I'm always going to have love for her but our happiness clearly doesn't lie with each other. I'm sure if the two of them would just get together and talk, things would smooth over eventually." Andre held his phone between his ear and shoulder and rubbed his hands together excitedly, "So how are we meddling?" Beck smiled at Andre's obvious enthusiasm, "I have a plan. I'll pick you up early tomorrow morning to set up."

Tori lay in bed with her eyes closed and her fingers pressed lightly against her lips. She could still feel the gentle pressure of Jade's lips against her own and the warmth that came with them. Try as she might, Tori couldn't stop replaying the kiss she had shared with the goth girl. On one hand she believed Jade was simply trying to make sure she would get an A for the semester but on the other hand could that much tenderness and emotion be conjured up out of nothingness? Maybe the kiss wasn't just a ploy to make Sikowitz believe their performance. Maybe Jade was trying to tell her something through the kiss because Tori wouldn't give her a chance to use her words.

Suddenly Beck's explanation for Jade's actions didn't seem so ludicrous. Beck had called her while she was on her way to rehearsal explaining that Jade had seen them going into the janitor's closet and immediately assumed the worst. He also said that he'd told Jade that nothing had happened in there and she had in turn confessed her feelings for Tori. The half-latina had immediately dismissed Beck and chastised him for buying into Jade's lies. But now after hearing that Jade had apologized publicly for spreading rumors about her and that _kiss_ … That kiss alone definitely changed things in Tori's mind but not enough to completely let go of her reservations. _Tomorrow's opening night, everything with Jade can wait until after the play._ Tori turned over onto her side and settled in for what would be anything but a good night's rest.

 _This kiss was different. Nothing like the soft, gentle, quick kiss during rehearsal. This one was passionate, desperate, hungry… Jade's hand trailed over Tori's chest past her bra and rested at Tori's zipper almost as if asking for permission. Tori's eyes shot open as she gently placed her hand over Jade's trying her best not to startle her. "I've never done this before." She said in an impossibly small voice. "What? Have sex with a girl?" Jade asked. Tori had to look away before she answered, "Have sex period." Jade was shocked but tried her best to sound reassuring. "Don't worry Vega, I'll be gentle." "I'm not looking for gentle," Tori replied in a voice that made the hairs on the back of Jade's neck stand up in anticipation, "I just wanted you to know that before you judge my performance." It was easier for Tori to hide behind humor than tell Jade how terrified she was of disappointing her. "I've been waiting so long for this to happen," Jade said punctuating each word with a kiss down Tori's throat, "That you can do no wrong." Warmth spread throughout Tori's body and as she felt Jade's teeth graze her earlobe she forgot all about her fear and gave herself up completely…_

Tori opened her eyes and was unsurprised to find that she had kicked off her sheets while her subconscious tortured her with yet another sex dream starring Jade. _Nancy first, Jade later._ Tori repeated to herself until she felt her eyelids getting heavy. She clung to her new mantra desperately hoping that opening night wasn't a complete disaster due to her inability to decipher her conflicting emotions towards her co star.

Jade walked into Hollywood Arts sipping down her usual morning coffee when she quickly realized she wasn't the first one in the building. Directly ahead of her were Andre and Beck whispering to each other while carefully placing items into none other than Tori's locker. "What do the two of you think you're doing?" Jade asked appearing right behind the two unsuspecting boys. The pair quickly turned around trying to hide their handiwork but they were much too slow. Jade had already caught a glimpse of a nauseating amount of red hearts taped to the inside of the locker along with a small balloon that read 'I'm sorry I'm such an asshole.' Beck scratched the back of his neck and looked toward Andre who motioned for Beck to speak. Beck took a deep breath, "Look, after the talk we had yesterday it seemed that you were ready to give up on Tori. And Tori didn't even believe me when I told her that you had feelings for her so," "YOU WHAT!?" Jade viciously cut him off as she felt her heart rate skyrocket. Andre shifted uncomfortably, "Yeah, I gotta go. I'll see you at lunch." He ran off before Jade could get a chance to rummage in her bag for anything she could use to hurt him.

"Jade, the two of you have been tiptoeing around this issue for months now. You made a mistake but you've been trying your best to fix it since and I just thought the two of you needed a little push. If she saw how sorry you were maybe she'd at least give you a chance to explain yourself." Jade couldn't be mad at Beck or even Andre for that matter. Their hearts were clearly in the right place unlike the monstrosities that now covered every square inch of Tori's locker. Jade chuckled, "She would never believe that I did this." Beck joined in with her, "Yeah, you're probably right." They took down the hearts, constantly looking over their shoulders to see if Tori was anywhere near. "Leave the balloon though, that was a nice touch." Beck smiled and pulled the remaining item he'd meant to place in the locker, "What about this?" It was a single rose with the reddest petals that Jade had ever seen. Jade quickly dug in her bag looking for a suitable place to leave a note. The best she could muster was a bright pink post-it. Jade frowned but scrawled out her note nonetheless. This time she used her own unmistakable cursive. ' _Break a leg tonight, Vega. I hope we can talk after the show. xxx -Jade'_ She stuck the note onto the rose and quickly closed the locker. "Thanks Beck." She planted a small kiss on his cheek. "You're welcome. I hope you guys can work things out. Bouncing back and forth between the two of you is exhausting." Beck let out an exaggerated yawn. "Hey!" Jade punched Beck lightly in the arm, "Don't be a wise ass." Beck grinned, "Come on, let's get out of here before anyone sees us."


	13. Chapter 13

Tori couldn't believe how late she was running. Class started over twenty minutes ago, her hair was a mess and she'd barely been able to get both arms into the sleeves of her purple hoodie. Her locker shockingly opened on the first try and she quickly thanked her lucky stars that she wouldn't be any later to class than she already was. Just as she was about to close her locker she caught sight of the red 'I'm sorry I'm such an asshole' balloon. _It couldn't be…_ But when Tori read the note attached to the red rose precariously hanging off the first shelf in her locker, there was no doubt in her mind that it was. Jade had made another attempt at seeking Tori's forgiveness. Lost in thought and looking at Jade's note, Tori felt even more inclined to believe that Jade had slipped the note into her pocket the night before. In spite of the shitstorm set in motion by the goth, she felt a huge smile make its way onto her face. In very un-Jade like fashion she had apologized to Tori multiple times and didn't give up even when Tori wasn't so eager to hear her out. She was trying and that, to Tori, spoke volumes.

It was twenty minutes until showtime and although the dress rehearsal could not have gone any smoother, Tori's hands shook as she buttoned her jacket. She knew that at the end of the show her lips would be reunited with Jade's and just the thought of it sent chills down her spine. Even more daunting was the conversation that would inevitably follow. She was unsure of what was to come. Would the two girls simply remain as they were; frenemies who just happened to have a freakish amount of sexual tension? Friends? ...Girlfriends? There was no way of knowing the thoughts roaming around the goth's head especially when Tori was having so much trouble deciphering her own. She quickly glanced at her phone and took a long deep breath, there was one minute left until showtime.

Jade brushed a stray blonde hair out of her eye and gave herself one last look in the mirror. She straightened her pearl necklace and blotted her lipstick one last time. Soon the curtains would go up and she would join Tori on stage. She was both excited and terrified for what the night held in store for her. Her lips trembled in anticipation knowing that Tori's would soon be in close proximity. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves. _The show is going to be great. Sikowitz all but gave Tori and I A's last night. As for what's going to happen after the show… Hopefully Tori can finally cut me some slack and if she doesn't, I just have to -_ There was no more time for Jade's inner monologue to herself, it was showtime.

Tori could barely hear her breath over the roaring applause of the audience. They'd done it! After weeks of late night rehearsals, bickering, a fake date, and unimaginable drama, it was all finally over. Jade pulled away from her and gripped her left hand as the entire cast took their last bow. Tori couldn't help but be hyper aware of Jade's hand in hers. It was surprisingly soft and delicate. She swallowed hard as a whole new type of anxiety rose in her chest. Pretty soon the rest of the cast would be out of their costumes and on their way home, leaving Tori and Jade alone to face their feelings.

Tori slowly peeled off her Walter moustache and removed her hat and wig for the last time. She had to admit, although she hated the various itchy aspects of her costume, she would miss being forced to spend so much time with Jade. Tori quickly changed into her clothes and glanced in the mirror before going to look for the girl who lived to wreak havoc on her life. After a few spritz of hairspray her hair no longer looked like it hadn't been shoved underneath a wig. Tori couldn't help but turn away as she caught the hopeful look in her eyes. Despite what Jade had done, she couldn't help but hope that this was just another incident they could put behind them and maybe finally start with a clean slate. Tori gathered all her things and made her way to Jade's dressing area. Her heart dropped when she realized she wasn't there and neither were any of her things. _Buzz._ Tori let out a sigh of relief when she read Jade's text: In the auditorium.

"Hey." Jade didn't need to turn around to know who the voice belonged to. She sat at the edge of the stage with her feet dangling, looking out at the empty rows of chairs in front of her and motioned for Tori to sit next to her. Once Tori obliged she turned her body slightly to face her and waited for all those hours of practicing her speech to take over. Tori couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with the goth so she settled for looking at her own hands instead. Jade cleared her throat, "Tori I," She started to reach for Tori's hand but thought better of it and flicked a piece of lint off her jeans instead. "Well first of all thank you for meeting me." Jade rubbed her thighs awkwardly trying to will the words out of her mouth. Tori only nodded, still unable to look up at Jade.

Jade pinched the bridge of her nose and grit her teeth, growing increasingly frustrated with herself. "I know what I did was shitty," she finally began, "And immature and all around stupid. I should probably backtrack a bit here. When you first started at Hollywood Arts I thought Beck was interested in you. You were everything I wasn't: kind, sweet, considerate. I picked on you, made fun of you, and did everything I could to drive a wedge between the two of you. But after a while I realized I wasn't jealous in the way I thought I was. You're one of barely a handful of people who isn't afraid to give me a taste of my own medicine. Even after all of the rotten things I've done to you, you're always there for me. Remember when you had to clean up in here after that food fight scene?" Tori smiled, how could she forget? "And then you decided to stay and help me since it was your fault I was there in the first place." "Yeah." Jade chuckled dryly and looked up, shocked to see Tori's brown eyes looking back at her. Jade quickly licked her lips and continued, "You could've easily ratted me out, but you didn't."

Tori nodded, it was clear to her now why she'd chosen to be silent then. "Sikowitz making us husband and wife was really what put things into perspective for me. Being so close to you, having to play a loving couple, that was terrifying in and of itself. But when Sikowitz made us go on that fake date, I was damn near shitting myself. I opened up to you in a way I never thought I would and in a way that I don't allow myself very often. The night definitely hadn't gone the way I'd expected and I wanted to tell you everything I was feeling but when I saw you with Beck, I don't know- I saw red and I just felt like such an idiot for thinking that anything could ever happen between us. I thought maybe you were only nice to me because you were trying to get to Beck or something. Oh god, it sounds so stupid saying it out loud." Jade buried her face in her hands not knowing how she would continue. Tori didn't know what to say. She'd hardly ever seen Jade voluntarily putting her genuine feelings out in the open so it was very difficult not to be caught off guard.

Tori slowly reached out her hand and placed it on the back of Jade's neck letting her nails gently scratch at the sensitive skin. "I didn't become aware of my feelings until we were about a week into rehearsals. Being so close to you all the time… And I started having these… dreams which was making it harder and harder to focus on the play and then on that date… I had no idea what to do. I couldn't tell if I was picking up some signals or if it was all in my head. After all those nasty things you said about me, I thought I must've gotten it all wrong. But I see how hard you've worked to try and apologize even after I keep shutting you down and I forgive you." Jade wanted to answer but that thing Tori was doing with her nails just felt so good. In a situation where she thought her anxiety would get the best of her, Tori was calming her down so easily.

They were suddenly very close together, the air around them thick with anticipation. Jade lifted up her head only to see that Tori was only inches away. Tori swallowed slowly sneaking a peak at Jade's lips. Jade placed a hand on Tori's cheek and leaned in close, "So, you were having dreams about me, Vega?" She teased. Tori rolled her eyes and pulled away but she couldn't hide the blush quickly spreading across her cheeks. Jade laughed, "I'm sorry Tori, I couldn't help it. Was I at least any good?" Tori lightly hit Jade on the arm but made no other attempt to pull away from her. "You were alright." She replied teasing her back. Jade dramatically brought a hand over her heart as if she was in grave pain. "That hurts, Vega." Tori couldn't help but smile. Never in a million years would she have guessed that she would find herself alone in an empty theater with Jade flirting unashamedly.

"Maybe you'll have to show me one day to defend your honor." Jade's smile disappeared as her body picked up on the change in Tori's voice. It was a touch deeper, sultry, almost daring Jade to make a move. But before she could Tori's lips were crashing against hers. Both girls hungrily reciprocated the kiss wanting desperately to get rid of any barriers between them but knowing full well that at any moment someone might walk in on them. Jade broke the kiss and peppered Tori's neck with small kisses occasionally allowing her teeth to scrape the sensitive flesh there. Tori tangled her fingers into Jade's hair and pulled her in for another kiss that left the girls' lips burning. She broke free of the kiss and nibbled gently on Jade's ear causing the goth's eyes to flutter shut. "We can't do this here." Tori whispered. Jade cursed under her breath but she knew that Tori was right. Plus she didn't want their first time to be on such a hard surface or so out in the open no matter how excited she currently felt. "My place." Tori muttered biting her earlobe once more, but this time harder.

"Upstairs!" Tori whispered between kisses as the two girls burst through the front door. Luckily it seemed that everyone was either in bed for the night or otherwise occupied. Tori broke the kiss and took Jade's hand firmly in hers leading the way to her room. Jade happily followed the half-latina, her heart threatening to beat itself out of her chest. After Tori shut and locked her door she pinned Jade against it and kissed her deeply. Jade didn't take too kindly to Tori's sudden domination and grabbed her wrists in an attempt to take her place. Tori smiled against Jade's lips and kept her in place with a thigh between her legs. Jade wanted to be mad, she really did but the friction caused by Tori's thigh was making it very difficult to even remember what she was mad about in the first place. Since it seemed that she wasn't going anywhere any time soon, Jade decided to stop struggling and start undressing Tori instead.

She effortlessly slipped her hoodie off her shoulders and her shirt followed quickly after. She gripped a fistful of Tori's hair and pulled firmly enough to expose the caramel colored skin on her neck. Tori moaned at the combination of pleasure and pain that made the warmth and wetness between her legs deliciously unbearable. "Who would've thought that Miss Sweet Sally Peaches liked getting her hair pulled?" Jade whispered after a particularly unforgiving onslaught of neck kisses. "Don't-" Tori started but Jade cut her off with a sharp bite to the soft flesh where here neck and shoulder connected. The goth grinned as Tori let out another low moan. Taking advantage of Jade's moment of distraction Tori's fingers deftly unbuttoned her jeans before she had a chance to realize what was happening. Before Jade could have any chance at gaining the upper hand again Tori slipped her hand inside Jade's underwear immediately connecting with wetness. The two girls inhaled sharply as Tori's fingers slid inside Jade without protest.

Tori had to clench her teeth and her other hand into a fist in order to avoid completely losing control and possibly waking up anyone that was in the house. Jade gasped at the sudden intrusion and gripped Tori's forearm tightly digging her nails into the warm flesh. At first Tori thought she'd hurt Jade but when their eyes connected in the dim lighting she realized that hurt was probably the farthest from what Jade was feeling. Jade's green eyes were practically glowing with desire for Tori. "Well what are you waiting for, Vega? Fuck me." Her lips flashed Tori her best trademarked Jade West grin which she was sure would seal her fate. And she was right. Tori slid her fingers inside her again this time harder making sure Jade really felt her presence. Jade clung desperately to Tori secretly loving the power the brunette held over her. Tori's wrist ached as her fingers sped up their pace inside of Jade.

The sounds that Jade was making were music to her ears but she needed to slow down and get these damn pants off her. Stopping for only a moment, she left her fingers inside of Jade while she all but tore down her jeans and underwear to give her hand more mobility. She kissed Jade hard and worked her way back up to an even more unrelenting pace and grinned as she felt Jade's nails digging into her bare shoulders. Jade was now impossibly wet and she felt her knees buckling and threatening to give way beneath her. "Fuck...fuck...fuck." She muttered over and over again between kisses. She could feel herself getting closer and closer to the edge and wanted desperately for Tori to push her over. Just as she started to see stars behind her eyelids, she felt Tori backing away from her slightly. She opened her eyes only to see that Tori was on her knees with her fingers still inside the goth. Just the sight of her on her knees looking up at her with wide milk chocolate eyes was almost enough to send Jade over the edge. Tori leaned in to Jade's wet center and let her tongue join her fingers in the sweet, delicious torture they were delivering. Jade couldn't hold it in anymore. She gripped Tori's hair and bit the fleshy part of her palm as felt herself coming undone. As her knees continued to buckle Tori gripped her butt using her free hand making sure that Jade wouldn't topple them over. Jade's hips moved in time to the rhythm of Tori's tongue as she rode out her powerful orgasm. She let her body fall back so that the door supported all of her weight.

"Shit." Jade breathed out. Tori gently pulled her fingers out of Jade and wiped her mouth as she stood up. She had no idea what had come over her but she was relieved that her body had taken over and knew exactly what to do to pleasure Jade. Jade bent down and pushed her underwear and jeans all the way down to the floor so she could remove them completely. She pulled her long sleeve shirt over her head and unclasped her bra in the back. She looked directly into Tori's eyes as she allowed the thin straps to slide slowly down her arms and land softly on the floor. Tori forgot all about her achy wrist as her eyes eagerly devoured every inch of skin now visible. Jade's nipples were a rosy pink and remained hard against creamy white skin. Her flat stomach led to the wonderful curve of her hips, one that contained a small tattoo of a triquetra which she would definitely question her about some other time. Her eyes settled between Jade's legs in that area she'd just dedicated so much time to, where not a single hair made an appearance. Jade made no attempt to shield her body, instead she walked towards Tori much in the same way as a cheetah stalks its prey. She placed a hand on Tori's chest smiling predatorily at the speeding heartbeat beneath her fingertips. She reached a hand behind Tori and unclasped her bra using only two fingers. "Showoff." Tori was surprised to hear herself say aloud, she could've sworn she'd said it in her head. Jade's grin only widened. "Oh Tori, you have no idea." She licked her lips as she slowly undressed Tori and prepared to show her just how much of a showoff she could be.


	14. Chapter 14

**It's taken me a lot longer than I hoped to bring this story to an end but better late than never, right? I hope you've all enjoyed this tale of Tori and Jade and thank you again for reading, commenting, and following. Enjoy the final chapter.**

Tori opened her eyes and was surprised at the soreness she felt in her entire body. As her brain slowly collected itself, the events of the previous night came back to Tori in a series of X rated snapshots. And sure enough when Tori turned to her left there was the raven haired beauty that was responsible for the scratches and the aches and pains. Tori couldn't help but smile as she watched the rise and fall of Jade's chest as she continued to sleep peacefully. The sheets came to a halt just below her breasts and her left hand rested close to Tori. It was incredible to Tori how natural this all felt. Jade being here, in her bed. Even the sex of the night before, they had been in perfect sync. There was no awkwardness or shyness, no need for pausing to check in. Only two girls who were drowning in desire for each other finally having the opportunity to discover each other for the first time. Even as she slept, Jade had an eyebrow arched as if she was about to hit Tori with one of her snarky comments.

Tori reached out and traced lazy circles on Jade's shoulder and watched as goosebumps slowly made their way down her arm. "There are very few things in this world that are creepier than watching someone sleep, you know." Tori looked up to see Jade smiling with her eyes still closed. Tori couldn't help but smile too. "I couldn't help it, you look even more beautiful when you're asleep." Tori answered softly. Jade opened her eyes, "Not so bad yourself." Even with tousled sex hair she still thought Tori looked beautiful in the morning. "So uh, look, I'm sorry I slept over. I meant to leave after, well you know but I was just so exhausted-" Tori cut her off, "Don't be stupid, I wanted you to stay." "Yeah?" Jade looked at her doubtfully.

Although Tori had forgiven her, Jade couldn't help but still feel guilty about how shitty she'd treated her and she intended to tread lightly. For a while at least. Tori placed a hand on Jade's face and looked at her with a sweetness that chipped away even more at the ice surrounding Jade's heart. "What you did was shitty and I really wish you'd talked to me and maybe avoided you lashing out the way you did. But I said I forgive you and that's the truth. Don't put yourself in the doghouse, I wanted this. I want this." She gestured first toward herself and then to Jade. "But if this has any chance of working out I need you to communicate with me. Don't just assume things and then leave a trail of disaster along the way. Talk to me." Jade didn't know what to say. She felt tears threatening to make an appearance and she used every ounce of willpower she had to blink them back. "I promise I'll talk to you before jumping to crazy conclusions." Jade said with a sincerity that shook Tori to her very core.

Tori smiled. She always knew that behind that hard exterior there was a sweetness only reserved for a select few. "Now there's something else we need to talk about," Jade said seriously, "And that is how much of a freak Tori Vega is in bed!" She giggled and dodged Tori's swatting hand. "Jade, shut up." In the bright sunlight beaming down into the room it was easy to see the blush quickly spreading across Tori's face. "Seriously though, mind blown." Jade said as her laughter died down.

There was a knock on the door that promptly led to the girls to pull up the covers as far as they'd go. "Tori, mom said breakfast is ready." Trina called through the closed door. There was a pause before she said, "Tell Jade she can eat too." The color drained from Tori's face as Trina walked away laughing. Jade burst out laughing and let the covers fall back down. Tori ran a hand through her hair wishing there'd be an earthquake so the ground would swallow her up whole. "This isn't funny, Jade. Who knows what she heard." This time Jade wasn't quick enough to dodge Tori's swatting hand. "What she heard was her sister having one hell of a good time." Jade answered winking at her. Tori shook her head but she couldn't help and smile at Jade. She'd covered for her sister plenty of times and had even been subjected to plenty earfuls that she'd rather soon forget. Tori gave Jade a quick peck and started getting dressed.

"Alright Jade get dressed so you can come and meet my parents." Jade's smile faltered, "Wait, what?" Tori pulled a Hollywood Arts hoodie over her head and looked at Jade, "Did you think you were gonna crawl out the window?" Tori tightened the drawstring on her sweatpants and threw a pair at Jade. "Well no," Jade said as she pulled them on, "But I was just going to say good morning and leave. I mean Tori, your dad's a cop. I'm not ready to meet them, especially after I spent all night doing dirty things to their daughter. Oh god, do you think he can put me in jail?" Tori laughed as Jade's face became impossibly paler. "My parents are going to love you they don't really have a choice. Here." She handed Jade a sweatshirt and wrapped her arms around the goth's neck before she had a chance to put it on. She kissed one cheek and then another before she whispered in Jade's ear, "If this breakfast goes well, maybe there'll be something in it for you later." Jade grinned at the mischievous tone in Tori's voice. She pulled on Tori's sweatshirt and gestured for Tori to lead the way. She watched as Tori opened the door and made her way down the hallway towards the stairs. Knowing full well that Jade would be watching her, she exaggerated the swaying of her hips with each step. Jade grinned as she followed close behind her. _I could definitely get used to this._

 **FIN**


End file.
